The new tax rate, set by the state Department of Revenue Administration, is $25.68, compared to last year’s rate of $24.86.

With the increase, an average city homeowner with a property valued at $200,000 will pay an additional $164 in taxes, said Blaine Cox, finance director and deputy city manager.

The city’s portion of the tax rate is $8.607, up 30 cents from last year, representing an increase of 3.7 percent.

“This is exactly the rate we projected back in June,” said Cox. “Right to the penny. There were no surprises.”

He said there were no major factors that contributed to the increase in the city’s portion of the tax rate. Rather, Cox said “inflationary increases” across the budget, such as the cost of fuel, energy, supplies, equipment, and health insurance costs, have all combined to increase the city’s tax rate.

He also said the several collective bargaining agreements approved last year, most of which came into effect July 1, contributed to the increase in the tax rate. On Tuesday, Cox could not estimate how much of the tax increase came from the rise in personnel costs.

City Councilor and Deputy Mayor Ray Varney also noted that the city is now starting to pay off the bonds for several investment projects, including the Washington Street reconstruction project completed about a year ago.

Varney agreed the tax rate increase is what the city officials expected, and there were no surprises.

“We stayed within the tax cap, which is what we were asked to do,” said Varney.

The school portion of the tax rate is $11.761 per $1,000 assessed property value, which is an increase of 5.3 percent over last year. The new school tax rate is 59 cents higher than a year ago.

According to Superintendent Michael Hopkins, decreases in revenue were the primary factor in the school tax rate increase. He said the School District is no longer receiving approximately $600,000 through the federal Education Jobs Grant. The federal IDA grant, which helps offset special education costs, has also decreased, as did the Title I funds the school system is receiving.

Overall, revenue to the School District decreased by about $900,000 over last year.

“I think the City Council and the School Board have done a really good job with the tax cap and meeting it, but still providing good service,” said Hopkins.

The state education portion of the tax rate decreased by 3.4 percent this year. The new state education tax rate is $2.518 per $1,000 assessed property value, which is 8.9 cents lower than last year.

The county tax rate went up by 0.6 percent. The new rate is $2.794 per $1,000 assessed property value, which is 2 cents higher than last year.

Cox said tax bills will likely be sent to the city property owners by Monday. Tax bills are due by Dec. 19.